The IndyBar Legislative Committee is currently monitoring the following family law related legislation.

The IndyBar Legislative Committee is currently monitoring the following family law related legislation.

It’s the time of year we all want to throw our cell phones in the White River and occasionally wish our email would just crash for 15 minutes so we can have but a brief respite. This year, give yourself the gift of a break, a little bit of sanity and some much-needed time with friends and family. At the end of the day, it’s really not too hard!

Deborah J. Shook serves as a magistrate for the Marion Superior Court. She is currently assigned to Civil Court 3 and conducts proceedings supplemental for all the civil courts in Marion County. 

The day to day life of an attorney is busy, chaotic and stressful, however, that is especially true of family law attorneys. As we enter the holiday season, the amount of stress on our clients, staff and us increases as daily issues involving custody, grandparent visitation, child support, finances, holiday visitation, etc. arise that needed to be solved yesterday when there are only 24 hours in a day.

The Title IV-D program was created by Congress under the Social Security Act in 1975. The program started as a cost recovery program, to recoup Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) benefits and is now one that establishes paternity, enforces child support orders and modifies child support across the country. The Title IV-D program in Indiana is governed by the Indiana Child Support Bureau and administered by local prosecutors’ offices through a cooperative agreement. 

The Title IV-D program was created by Congress under the Social Security Act in 1975. The program started as a cost recovery program to recoup Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) benefits and is now one that establishes paternity, enforces child support orders and modifies child support across the country. The Title IV-D program in Indiana is governed by the Indiana Child Support Bureau and administered by local prosecutors’ offices through a cooperative agreement.

This is a friendly reminder that July 1 brought us many new laws. Particularly, the relocation statute had some updates that will require changes in your pleadings. Another new law allows the Department of Child Services 45 days to issue their report instead of the previous 30 days. 

The changes the requirements of the notice of intent to relocate as well as the contact information a party is required to share with another party subject to the case. The new law will also require a response to a notice of relocation even if a party is not objecting.

Even our own Justice Theodore Boehm opined in a case regarding adoption notice that our adoption notice statutes “taken together, seem to provide multiple opportunities for confusion and even intentional obfuscation.”